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EraDrive is building autonomy software and hardware for spacecraft, enabling them to see, decide, and act with minimal human control. The company's technology is already flying in space and is expanding into a product family covering rendezvous, on-orbit inspection, and space-based sensing.
You will lead end-to-end systems engineering and technical execution for EraDrive's flight hardware payloads (Era-Nodes), from requirements definition through design, implementation, qualification, host spacecraft integration, and on-orbit operations. You will own the system architecture, interfaces, verification strategy, technical baseline, and risk posture across mechanical, thermal, electrical, software, autonomy, and operations domains.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead design, implementation, qualification, integration, and operational readiness of multiple Era-Node flight units
- Translate mission and customer objectives into system architecture, concept of operations, requirements, and acceptance criteria
- Define and control internal and external interfaces across mechanical, thermal, power, data, timing, software, autonomy, and operations domains
- Coordinate GNC, software, AI/ML, mechatronics, hardware, and test teams; lead system trades, technical decisions, design reviews, and issue resolution
- Serve as primary technical point of contact to suppliers, manufacturing partners, host bus providers, and government sponsors/customers
- Develop and execute assembly, integration, and verification & validation strategy for engineering and flight units
- Plan and lead environmental qualification and acceptance campaigns
- Own system-level risk management across multiple flight units
- Lead integration with host spacecraft and ground segment, including command, telemetry, operational procedures, and flight readiness
- Support launch, commissioning, and operations through telemetry review, anomaly investigation, and lessons-learned feedback
This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring deep involvement in details, interface closure, requirements management, design reviews, and test campaigns to ensure every Era-Node is delivered as a qualified, integrated, operable flight system.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Degree in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or closely related field
- Experience leading end-to-end development for satellite buses, hosted payloads, avionics, or flight hardware from concept through qualification, integration, and operations
- Multidisciplinary understanding of mechanical, thermal, electrical, data, timing, software, autonomy, and spacecraft operations interfaces
- Experience with system trades, interface control, requirements and verification management, risk management, and formal technical reviews
- Experience managing the technical baseline for multiple flight units or small production runs
- Experience planning and executing functional and environmental test campaigns, including anomaly investigation and verification closure
- Ability to coordinate and communicate technical status between internal teams and external vendors, bus providers, program sponsors, and customers
- Clear, concise technical writing and presentation skills, with ability to move between detailed engineering work and program-level technical leadership in a small, fast-moving team
BONUS QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience integrating hosted payloads with commercial or government spacecraft buses
- Experience with U.S. Government or national-security space programs and their technical review, data, and mission-assurance processes
- Experience with optical sensing payloads, cameras, embedded processors, precision timing hardware, radio crosslinks, or onboard autonomy systems
- Experience with model-based systems engineering and requirements-management tools
- Familiarity with spacecraft reliability, FMEA, radiation effects, EEE parts, supply-chain risk, and production quality controls
- Experience supporting launch-site integration, on-orbit commissioning, or sustained spacecraft payload operations
